Changeable light advertising device



Dec. 6, 1938. w. w. SHIGLEY I CHANGEABLE LIGHT ADVERTISING DEVICE FiledSept. 29', 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet l W/wm W256 INVENI OR.

ATTORNEY Dec. 6, 1938.

w. w. SHIGLEY ,*13'8n88% CHANGEABLE LIGHT ADVERTISING DEVICE 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 29, 1957 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

Y Wm Wsm /e Patented Dec. 6, 1938 UNITED STATES CHANGEABLE LIGHTADVERTISING DEVICE William W. Shigley, Bellcville, N. J., assignor, bydirect and mesne assignments, of one-half to E. Daniel Bush and one-halfto 0. Abbott Bush, both of Brooklyn, N. Y.

Application September 29, 1937, Serial No. 166,330

2 Claims. (Cl. 240-101) The purpose of this invention is to provideimprovements in the mechanism of a device having a plurality of lightsrotating on a rotating member by regulating the speed between the twomembers, and holding the two members in relation to each other toproduce substantially any design desired.

The invention is a plurality of lights in the ends of arms rotatablymounted in the end of a bar also rotatably mounted, in which the lightsare positively driven, and the movement thereof drags the bar in whichthey are mounted around, and means is provided between the driving meansand the mounting means of the bars for positively regulating thediiference in speed-.between the bar and arm, and means is also providedin the regulating means for holding the members at substantially anypoint so that the rotating lights will produce one design instead ofcontinually changing to different designs.

This device is an improvement over the devices shown in my prior PatentNumber 2,055,777, and application with the Serial Number 99,043, in thatfriction discs are provided at the rear of the motor which drives thedevice, and means is provided for moving one friction disc across theother to vary the speed of the respective members, and means is alsoprovided for holding said disc at any point to maintain a constant speedbetween the members.

The object of this invention is, therefore, to provide means in themachine of my prior patent and application for positively controllingthe different designs produced by the lights thereof.

Another object is to provide means for controlling the designs bycontrolling the speed of one member in relation to the other in order toproduce a greater variety .of designs.

Another object is to provide means for controlling the speed of the tworotating members, in which the controlling means may be set at any pointto cause the said rotating members to produce any design or any group ofdesigns.

A further object is to provide an improvement in the mounting of theparts of these devices to insure continuous operation, and also toprolong the life thereof.

And a still further object is to provide improved mechanism for mountingand controlling the operating parts of changeable light devices which isrelatively simple, and which makes it possible to produce a device of asimple and economical construction.

With these ends in View the invention embodies a device having aplurality of lights mounted in the ends of arms of a spider, with thearms mounted on the end of an arm, in which the arm is mounted upon ashaft in independent bearings, with the spider positively driven from amotor, and with a disc also driven by the opposite end of the motorfrictionally engaging a disc on said shaft, and having a cam driven bythe motor controlling the operation of the disc on the shaft in order toengage the motor driven disc at different points from the center toreadily change the speed of the operating parts.

Other features and advantages of the invention will appear from thefollowing description taken in connection With the drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 shows a front view of the device with the front plate omitted.

Figure 2 is a cross section through the case showing the parts inelevation.

Figure 3 is a sectional plan with the casing omitted, and with the partsshown in'elevation.

Figure 4 is a detail on line Q-fl of Figure 3, showing the friction discoperating means with parts omitted.

Figure 5 is a section through the casing showing the mechanism inelevation on an enlarged scale, and in this view parts are omitted inorder to illustrate the device more clearly, as the electrical contactsand the hubs of the gears are not shown, thereby illustrating analternate design in which the electrical contacts and gear bearings maybe built into the respective parts.

In the drawings the device is shown as it may be made, wherein numeral lindicates the small rotating member or spider, numeral 2, the largerrotating member or arm, and numeral 3, the

motor.

In this design the arm 2is rotatably mounted in bearings 4 and 5 upon abase 6, and the motor is also mounted upon the base and geared to ashaft 1 through which the arm 2 is rotatably mounted in the bearings tand 5, and, although the arm is fixedly mounted on the shaft l, thegears are freely mounted upon the shaft, and the shaft 1 is, therefore,not directly connected to or driven by the motor.

The motor shaft 8 extends outward at both ends of the motor, and on oneend a gear 9 is fixedly mounted, and this gear meshes with a geariilfreely mounted on the shaft 1, and connected by the hub H of the gearto another gear l2 which meshes with a gear IS on the spider shaft I 4which is rotatably mounted in the outer end of the arm 2. The spider lis, therefore,

positively driven from the motor through the gears 9, I 0, I2 and I3,and, therefore, starts to rotate as soon as the motor is started, and asthis spider rotates the friction of the parts thereof contacting withthe air cause it to drag the arm 2 around, thereby rotating the shaft 1,and, as the shaft 1 rotates, it rotates a disc l5 which is in frictionalengagement with the surface of another disc l6 fixedly mounted on ashaft IT and positively driven from the motor through worm gears l8 andI9. It will be noted that, with the disc I 5 engaging the periphery ofthe disc I6, the shaft 1 will be driven at the highest speed, and as thedisc 15 moves backward to-.- ward the center of the disc Hi the speedwill decrease, and substantially stop with the disc at the center. Theposition of the disc I5 is controlled by a cam 20 which engages asliding block 2! slidably mounted on a square shaft 22, as shown inFigure 4, and this block is provided with an extending member 23 thatextends upward into a groove 24 of a collar 25 on the disc l5, and, withthe collar and disc keyed to the shaft 1 through a key 26, it willrotate with the shaft in any position. It will be noted that the cam 28engages a plate 2! at the opposite end of the member 2|, and it willalso be noted that the member 2| is resiliently held against the cam bya spring 28 positioned on the square shaft 22. The periphery of the cam,as shown in Figure 5, is preferably of an odd shape, however, this maybe shaped to obtain any desired movement of'the member 2| so that anycombination of speeds of the rotating parts may be obtained, and, asdifferent designs are produced by the rotating lights 29 in the ends ofthe arms of the spider l as the center of the spider is rotated aboutthe shaft 1 at different speeds in proportion to the speed of thespider, it will be noted that the periphery of the cam may be shaped toobtain any design or any combination of designs desired.

The cam 20 is fixedly mounted on the end of a shaft 30, and this shaftis also positively driven from the motor 3 by a worm gear 3| on themotor shaft which meshes with a gear 32 on a vertical shaft 33, and onthe lower part of the shaft 33 is another gear 34 that meshes with agear 35 keyed to the shaft 30. This is only a typical arrangement of thegears, and, therefore, these parts are not shown in detail, as it willbe understood that any gear reduction now in use, such as is ordinarilybuilt into the end of a motor, may be used. In this design, however, thegear 35 is provided with a sleeve 36 that extends along the shaft 30,and the outer end of the sleeve is provided with a set collar 31 whichengages the end of a bushing 38 threaded into the housing 39 at the endof the motor in which the gears are mounted, and, as the bushing isscrewed outward by a knurled collar 40 thereon, it will draw the sleeveand gear 35 outward so that the gear is not in mesh with the gear 34,and, therefore, the cam 2|] is disconnected from the motor. The bushing38 is provided with a lock nut 4| to hold it in the inner or outerposition, and the outer end of the bushing is also provided with a locknut 42 on a split threaded portion 43 thereof, which may look the sleeve36 in the bushing so that the sleeve 36 may be turned to set the cam 20in any desired position, and then locked so that it is stationary,thereby holding the device with the parts operating to produce anydesired design.

The electrical contacts have been omitted in Figure 5, and are onlyillustrated in Figure 3, as it will be understood that these parts willbe incorporated in the different members, and individual completecircuits may be used or they may be grounded as shown. In Figure 3 oneterminal of the light bulbs is grounded to the machine, and the otherterminal is connected by a wire 44 to a contact 45, which extendsthrough the arm to a ring 46 on the inside thereof, and insulatedtherefrom by an insulating ring 41, and the ring 46 is in brush contactwith a contact member 48 on the arm 2, which contact extends toward thecenter and engages an inner insulated rod 49 which extends through andis insulated from the shaft 1, and the other end thereof engages acontact 50 which may be connected by a wire 5| to any suitable source ofelectric current, the opposite terminal of which is grounded to theframe.

In the design shown, this device is incorporated in a casing 52 mountedon a base 53 and provided with a transparent window 54, however, it willbe understood that the casing may be of any type or design, and may bearranged in any manner.

It will also be understood that other changes may be made in theconstruction without departing from the spirit of the invention. One ofwhich changes may be in the use of other means for controlling thedifferent speeds between the two operating parts, another may be in theuse of other means for setting the speed of the large rotating arm toobtain any suitable design, and still another may be in the use of othermeans for operating or controlling the proportionate speeds of theseparts to produce a greater number of designs.

The construction will be readily understood from the foregoingdescription. In use the device may be provided as shown and described,and it will be noted that, as the motor is started, the spider I willrotate, spinning the lights 29 around in a circle, and, with lights ofdifferent colors, a stationary ring would be obtained if the spider wereheld in one position, however, as the shaft 7 starts to rotate, andpermits the spider to be rotated about the center, these lights willproduce a relatively large number of different designs, and the numberof designs, and also the designs produced, may be controlled by the camand friction discs.

The advantage of this arrangement, as compared with that of my priorpatent and application, is in the fact that a relatively small ratio ofspeed of the small rotating member to the large rotating member may beobtained, and this increases the life of the wearing parts of thedevice.

Having thus fully described the invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a display device of the type having lights mounted in the ends ofthe arms of a spider, in which the spider is rotatably mounted in theend of a freely rotatable arm and adapted to be driven directly byrotating means; a shaft upon which said arm is mounted, a friction discslidable on said shaft connected therethrough to said arm and providingthe rotating means for said arm, another friction disc rotatably mountedand driven by said rotating means, said latter disc engaging the formerfriction disc, means changing the position of one disc in relation to 75the other to adjust the speed of rotation of the respective parts, andmeans adapted to hold the said first mentioned disc at different pointsof contact with said latter disk whereby the lights may be controlled toproduce one design 2. A device, as described in claim 1, in which.

the means changing the position of one disc in WILLIAM W. SHIGLEY.

